Three Roses
by viviana tully
Summary: Tohru finally has to decide if she loves Yuki or Kyou the most. With her heart already knowing the answer, Tohru depends on three different roses to help her make the ultimate decision.


Happy New Years, 2007! I created this bit of insanity because I was incredibly bored, plus I wanted to be able to say, yes I actually did something during winter vacation rather than listening to all of my cd's three times, and reading books that I've read before. Anyways I hope you enjoy this story. It's been building in my mind for some time, and I it turned sort of like I imagined. Well that has to be a good sign. Anyways, like I said before, enjoy!

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**Three Roses**

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"Good morning, Yuki-kun!" said Tohru brightly as the Zodiac rat blindly stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen. She was in the kitchen making breakfast like usual.

Upon entering the kitchen, Yuki attempted to mumble a greeting towards Tohru, but was unable to because she quickly jumped in surprise. "Oh no, the rice is burning! I completely forgot about it, too!" Quickly the girl poured the rice into a big bowl, and inspected it. Sighing in relief, she informed Yuki who had quickly woken up because he was worried that she might burn herself, "The rice is perfectly fine! Thank goodness for that!"

Smiling to herself like usual, Tohru seperated the rice into four equal bowls. Then she took a bowl to the table where Shigure was sitting and reading the newspaper. "Here you are Shigure-san!" she said brightly. "I hope it doesn't taste burnt."

Shigure tossed the newspaper aside and said, "I'm sure whatever you made for us is wonderful, or at least much better tasting than what Yuki-kun can make."

"Then what about yourself, Shigure?" asked Yuki, sitting beside the table with his own bowl of rice.

"Well," started Shigure. "I find my cooking perfectly satisfactory, but to others, my cooking is nothing better than the excretion of dogs."

"Huh?" asked Tohru while both Yuki and Kyou hit Shigure upside the head with all their might. She was about to make a protest, when realization finally set in. Giving a sigh, Tohru merely shrugged, and then greeted Kyou, "Good morning, Kyou-kun!"

"Morning," he returned, grabbing the last bowl of rice on the counter in the kitchen. He took a huge bite of the rice, but ended up spitting it out as if it were poison. "What happened to the rice? It taste burnt."

"Does it? Oh, I'm so sorry Kyou-kun! I'll make you another bowl, and I promise this time I won't burn it," said Tohru with determination. She stood up from the table, and went to the kitchen before Kyou or anyone else could protest.

"Hey," said Kyou with ire. "I didn't mean anything by it! See-" he took a huge bite of rice from the bowl. "It-" he indicated to the bowl of rice, "is pefectly fine. So don't bother making any more. You shouldn't waste food. Think of all the poor people in Africa or something that could use the food."

"Your absolutely right, Kyou-kun!" exclaimed Tohru. "How can I waste food if there are plenty people in the world who could use it more than I could. I so horribly selfish and spoiled."

Tohru drew in a breath to continue her tirade; however, Yuki said from the table, "Kyou you better say something to make her calm down, you know." He took a delicate bite of the rice, then added, "Stupid cat."

Growling in a very cat like manner, Kyou snapped, "Damn rat." Then he faced the very upset girl, that he had unfortunately set into motion.

"Um, Tohru," he said. "Really, it's okay. A little burnt rice never killed anybody, expecially me. I'll eat any and all of the food that you burn by accident, or on purpose depending on your mood." He shrugged, then looked sheepishly down at the brown haired girl who was not as upset anymore. "Sorry."

"What for," she asked using her sleeve to dry the tears that had built up by her eyes. "It is not your fault that I burnt it."

"And neither is it yours."

"But it is."

"No, it isn't."

"But I was the one cooking."

"Well, if I was the one who was cooking it, and you came in here asking for help somewhere else, and then when I returned to find the entire batch burnt, would you still blame yourself, even though I was the one cooking?"

"Yup!" She smiled at him.

Shaking his head, he muttered, "Your hopeless." He was smiling though, and he picked up the bowl he had set on the counter to finish the contents at the table. As he passed Tohru, he patted her on the head in playful manner.

She jumped at the contact, sending the bowl and rice flying through the air. It clattered on the floor, but she did not notice. Instead she stared intently into his eyes, and he stared into hers. They would of continued, but Shigure interrupted by saying, "Oh no, you are still ruining my house, and I thought that you had finished the job ages ago."

"Oh, be quiet you stupid dog," said Yuki taking his clean bowl in the kitchen and placing it into the sink. Grabbing a broom and a dustban, he began to clean up the mess that was a few feet from Tohru. "Really, you two better get ready for school because we have to leave-" he looked at his watch. "Right now!"

"What?" asked Tohru, jumping out of her small reverie, meanwhile Kyou had the exact same reaction, except that his was little more violent. In a hasty rush to get out of the house, he ended up going straight through the door rather than opening it.

Watching as Kyou ran down the road, Yuki sighed, "Does he really hate school?" Meanwhile Shigure was moaning, "Not again, oh not again. Oh well, I was due for a new door, and yet again it does not have to come from my pocket book but yours dear Kyou. Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day."

Placing a hand on his forehead, Yuki repeated, "I don't know this man, I don't know this man. No way on Earth would I live in the same house. There is just no way."

Tohru giggled, entertained by the Sohma's antics. "Come on Yuki-kun, we have to go!"

As they walked, Shigure's song could still be heard from the house, "Oh what a beautiful mornin', oh what a beautiful day..."

------

Tohru stood in the hospital room. At least she was in the room, but it seemed as if the person who was suppose to be in the room was gone. Raking through her brain, trying to remember if she had been released yet or not, Tohru came up with nothing. For all that she remembered, Rin, the room's supposed occupant was suppose to be inhabiting this room, but that was not the case at the moment.

Being the usual, very worried girl that she is, Tohru decided that finding Rin was her duty, so she headed outside in hopes to find the older girl. Luckily for Tohru, Rin was sitting on a bench near a fountain. One of her hands was lying lazily in the basin, fully beneath the water.

When Tohru walked up from behind, Rin merely said, "It's about time you arrived."

Looking at the Zodiac horse in surprsie, Tohru asked, "What do you mean Isuzu-san?"

Rin shrugged. "You are always here at the exact same time, on the exact same time, and I was just remarking that you are five minutes late."

Eyes widening, Tohru asked, "I was five minutes late?"

"Yeah," said Rin. "So, I was worried that you wouldn't show."

Her lips quivering, Tohru asked, "You were worried about me?"

"Of course I was," said Rin, shrugging. "You are too naive and airheaded. If you don't appear when you are suppose to, then it makes me worry that you were murdered, raped, kidnapped, or something along those lines. And I don't like worrying."

"You were really worried about me, weren't you?"

"Yes-" Rin stopped, when Tohru came rushing towards her, ready to envelop her into a huge hug. "Hey, don't you take that to heart. I don't worry about anyone, expecially empty airheads like you. Do you understand me?"

Rin stepped out of the way, and Tohru crashed into the fountain. Wincing slightly, Tohru giggled, "Yes, I understand."

"Good," said Rin, sitting back down. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you something of great importance."

"Oh?" asked Tohru genuinely concerned. "What is it."

Sighing, Rin said. "There is no easy way to say it, so I'm going to ask you plain out. Who do you love more? It appears to me that both Yuki and Kyou are head over heels for you."

Tohru gave a small gasp. "No, Isuzu-san. You must be mistaken."

Rin shook her head, "No, I'm not. Anyways, you-" she pointed a finger at Tohru accusingly."you just stand there smiling- acting as if every thing is perfect in your perfect little world. The fact is that you have to chose. And you have to chose soon. Neither one of them are going to wait forever for you to make up your mind."

"Soon?" gasped Tohru. "But I care about them equally. I can't possibly chose one over the other. Both Kyou-kun and Yuki-kun are important to me."

Sighing, Rin looked away from Tohru. She rubbed her head and Tohru asked concerned, "Do you have a headache, Isuzu-san."

"No, I'm fine," Rin said. Then she suddenly changed the subject, "I'm being released tomorrow, so you don't have to keep on coming here religiously."

"Congragulations," said Tohru. "I'm really happy that you'll finally get to leave."

"Yeah, yeah," said Rin. "I'm just glad that I can finally leave this place. I don't like hospitals very much."

Tohru smiled, "Well I'm glad that you can leave. When will I be able to see you again?"

Shrugging, Rin said, "I'll be around." She glanced around the garden. "I'll be around... somewhere."

"Oh, that's good to hear," said Tohru. She looked up at the sky, and noticed dark clouds beginning to form above. "Well I guess I better go back now. It's getting kind of late, and it looks like our fair weather is about to leave."

Rin looked up at the sky, and nodded her head in agreement. "I suppose your right. Well I guess it is time to say bye."

"Yeah, so bye until next time?" asked Tohru as she walked towards the garden's exit.

"Yeah," agreed Rin. "Until next time."

Tohru waved, and she was out of the garden, heading home with the looming storm clouds above.

She walked along the street, just simply thinking about what Rin had told her about Yuki and Kyou, not even thinking about Rin's good news. Tohru had known for some time that she would eventually have to tell them what she thought of them, but to her, right now was to early. But maybe this was what her mother meant by becoming older.

"_When your older, you have to make decisions that might hurt others, but make others happy,_" mumbled Tohru, repeating her mother's words of knowledge. Sighing, Tohru thought, _I never truly understood what that meant until now. If I told Yuki-kun that I loved him more, Kyou-kun would be sad. The same thing would happen if I told Kyou-kun because then Yuki-kun would be sad. Oh what should I do?_

It was at this time that Tohru spotted the flower shop. A huge sign hung in the window, surrounded by roses of every color imaginable. There were multiple colors of red, pinks that were both dark and light, yellow, orange, black, lavender, white, and even roses that had more than one color. Suddenly having an idea, Tohru read the huge sign that was surronded by the wonderful roses. To her delight, the sign read _Roses on Sale! Buy one, get two free!_

"This is wonderful!" said Tohru in exiliration. She had remembered an old story her mother had told her when she was young. The story had been about a fair maiden, the most beautiful in the land, for this was a fairy-tale after all, who could not decide which suitor she should marry.

Since the fair maiden could not decide, she commanded all of her suitors to bring a rose, and go to the calm lake in the middle of the forest. The next day, she and her suitors went to the lake, each and everyone of them held their own unique rose, even the fair maiden.

The fair maiden then set her rose into the lake's calm water. She then asked her suitors to set their own rose into the water; however, their rose would be across the lake from hers. Then, she stated that they would wait a night, and the next morning, whoever rose was touching her rose, would become her husband.

Using this logic, Tohru decided that she would figure out who she loved the most by using roses. She walked determinedly into the flower shop, and quickly went over to the rose selection.

Tohru looked at all of the roses, and quickly became overwrought. What three roses should she choose? She knew nothing of the flower language, and she wanted her decision to be precise. Absolutely no errors, or else... she did not even want to think of the consequences if the roses answer was wrong.

She was about to go ask for help; however, a smiling woman came over.

"Welcome!" she said. "How may I help you?"

Tohru looked at her feet, and said meekly, "I can't decide which roses I should buy."

"Oh, is that all?" asked the woman genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," said Tohru looking away. Then realizing that the woman might be able to help, she asked with renewed excitement. "Do you know what some of the colors of these roses represent?"

The woman smiled. "I do know some. Which one's do you want to know?"

Tohru smiled back at the woman. "Thank you so much! I hope I'm not imposing on your time."

"Oh, don't worry," the woman said. "I work here, and you are the fifth costumer the shop has had today. Not much interaction with people, and I really needed some female companionship for a few minutes. Flowers are just not as good as people sometimes."

"Okay," said Tohru with radiance. She picked up a pink rose, and asked, "What does pink symbolize?"

"Pink symbolizes happiness, appreciation, admiration, friendship, and sympathy."

"All of those qualities for one rose?" asked Tohru.

The woman shrugged. "I like to think pink as a mix between red and white, although it doesn't make much sense."

"Why?" Tohru asked.

"Well, everyone knows what red represent. Red represents love and passion. However most people forget that it also means respect."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and a single red rose says 'I love you'. That's why red roses are so popular to give away. Roses have an entire language to themselves."

"What about a white rose then? What does it represent?"

"Purity. Well, at least that is what I think about when I think about the color white. I'm sure there are a few other meanings, but I don't remember."

"That's alright," said Tohru smiling. "I'm really impressed though. I wish I knew the language or roses." She sighed, and then said, "Thank you very much! I think I can finally make my decision."

"But I didn't even tell you the meanings of the other colors," protested the woman. "How can you make an informed decision if you don't have all the facts?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," said Tohru. "I don't want to waste all your time by asking ridiculous questions. I'm very grateful for your help." Tohru began to bow, but the woman quickly stopped her.

Making a quick, swift bow, the woman said smiling, "It was my pleasure to help you." Then, the woman left Torhu, and slowly went back to the counter, but hurried when a man came walking in, soaking wet because of the rain, asking for his order of daffodils.

Tohru watched the man for a few seconds, admiring him for buying flowers for his wife or girlfriend. To her, buying flowers was incredibly romantic. But after a few seconds of staring at the man while she was in her reverie, Tohru realized that it was incredibly rude to stare, so she went back to chosing her three special roses.

------

Tohru walked along the dim, damp street. The rain had finally stopped, and she was glad of that fact. Right now she was trying to find her grandfather's old home, the house that she had been living in before she moved into her tent. She remembered that behind the house was a small, tranquil pond that would be perfect for her roses.

As she rounded a street corner, she caught sight of the old house, and in breathless excitement, Tohru ran towards the house. Old memories quickly surronded her, and she hastened her pace. The bag she was carrying moved precariously with her movements, but soon she was in front of the house. In a second in front of the old house, she decided to walk through the peaceful gardens her grandfather had once grown when he was younger.

To her, the gardens had always been peaceful, and always a place full of good memories about her past. Expecially of her mother, and some of the few memories she had of her father. She remembered playing, and singing quirky tunes that her father had made up on the spot. She smiled sadly to herself. If only she could make new memories in this age, rather than depend on memories of the past.

But the past was the past, and the present is the present. Right now she had other problems, like figuring out who would have her heart for eternity. Two boys, no they were more like men now. They had grown much in the past year, no it had been longer than a year. It had been more like a year and a half.

Sighing to herself, she could not believe how fast time had passed by, but at the same time seemed like eternity. She now had completely stopped in the middle of the garden, and shadows were creeping faster and faster towards her. Plus at Shigure's house, they were probably expecting dinner in the next hour.

So, Tohru hastened her pace through the garden. Then suddenly she saw the pond. The first thought that came to her mind was that her memroy did not do the pond justice. If possible the pond looked better than it did a year and half ago. The grass was perfectly trimmed, the nearby willow tree looked perfectly trimmed, and the small island in the middle with the rocks leading up to it were very pituresque.

Nothing, but this small pond would work for her desion with the roses. She walked to the edge of the pond, and took the three roses into her hand. Each rose represented a person. The pink represented her, because of earlier conversations.

"Pink for Tohru," she whispered to herself. She remembered the day when they had gone to buy her a new bathing suit. Both Hana-chan and Uo-chan had decided upon a pink one for her because Kyoko was the red butterfly; fiery and passionate. White for her father because he was simple. Together, red and white creates pink.

There were two more roses in her hand: one lavender and one orange. Speaking to herself, she said, "Lavender represent Yuki-kun and the orange represent Kyou-kun. Whichever rose touches mine tomorrow morning is the one that I love the most."

She took her own pink rose, kissed it gently, whispering, "Make the right decision." Then she gently set it into the water. Then she walked to the other side of the pond, and placed the lavender one into the water, then the orange. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Tomorrow I shall see the truth."

She bowed at the pond, thanking it for helping her in her search, and quietly left the area..She was prepared to return the next day.

------

The next day did not begin well for Torhu. The main reason was that it was pouring rain outside as soon as she woke up. Moaning to herself, she decided that she would have to go to the pond at a later time that day, for if she did now she would end up with a cold.

Somewhat annoyed with the turn of events, Tohru waited the entire day until she could go to the pond. Both Kyou and Yuki noticed her anxiety, but both were smart enough to ask what the problem. During school hours, Uo and Hana noticed, but figuring that the problem had something to do with the Sohma's (no waves needed to help figure it out), they both decided to not ask.

Momiji, however, was the only one to ask. During lunch, Tohru, Uo, Hana, Kyou, Yuki, Haru and Momiji were lucky enough to have lunch together for the first time in ages. Since this was such a rare occasion, everyone had decided to ignore Tohru's odd mood. Yet, Momiji seemed to be not tuned to the others thoughts, fo as lunch ended he asked, with much concern, "Are you alright Tohru-kun?"

Tohru looked in surprise. "I'm perfectly fine Momiji-kun."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely positive," said Tohru giving him one of her most radiant smiles.

"Oh, okay, only if you are sure," said Momiji looking away.

"Well, I'm perfectly sure," said Tohru. When she saw Momiji looking away sadly, she added, "Thank you for worrying about me though."

Momiji brightened, and the rest of the day went by smoothly, except that Tohru was still anxious to see the pond.

Soon the school day had ended, and Tohru was standing in front of the pond, looking for any sign of the roses. Except that there was no sign of the roses. The three roses that she had placed there in the pond had completely disappeared, as if they had never existed. Perplexed, Tohru walked around the pond again, hoping that maybe this time she would see something.

Yet again, nothing appeared. Slightly upset, Tohru walked towards the garden that she came through. That was when a vase in the window caught her eye. For inside that vase was the three roses that she had placed in the pond the other night.

Confused to why someone would pull her roses out of the pond, she decided to go and ask the owner of the house, the very house that her grandfather had owned years ago. So, she walked to the front door, and knocked on the front door.

"Come in," called a voice from inside the house. Not knowing any other options, for walking away would be rude, Tohru opened the door and entered into a warm room. She took her shoes off, and walked slowly into the room.

"Hello?" she called quietly. "Hello? I'm Honda Tohru, and I want to ask a question."

"Then ask your question Honda Tohru-san," said a woman's voice from across the room. Tohru looked up to see the woman sitting in a rocking chair by a fire place that was blazing with a warm fire. A window was behind the rocking chair, and in the window, the vase with the three roses was held. Tohru hardly noticed the woman, her full attention was on the roses.

The old woman seemed to notice this, so she asked, "Ah, so those three roses must be yours?"

When Tohru nodded her head, the woman smiled. "It has been such a long time since I've seen anyone practice that spell. Ah, the memories." She reclined back in her chair, and sighed. "But that spell just never seemed to work. It always gave the user the wrong answer. Well, that's not true. The spell only gives a the right answer if the user already knows the answer, but I take it, that since I was able to remove these roses from the pond, that you do the correct answer, do you not?"

"Um," said Tohru; this was the only answer that she seemed to be able to produce. "I actually don't know the answer myself."

"You don't?" cried the old woman appalled. "Surely you must be jesting. If you truly didn't know the answer yourself, these roses would still be where you left them."

"But didn't you say that this was a spell?" asked Tohru. "Maybe the reason you were able to remove them was because I didn't do the spell right. That could be a reason, couldn't it?"

The woman looked at Tohru in amazement. "You think that because you didn't know that this was a spell, that it wouldn't work?"

When Tohru nodded her head fervently, the old woman laughed. "Oh such an amusing child. A foolish, but an amusing child." The woman smiled, "The spell always works, even if the user doesn't know it." She sighed, "Well, anyways, even if you don't think that you know the truth, I'll give you a feel hints to figure it out on your own."

"Really?"

"Yes," said the woman. She sighed, looking at the roses, then she took them one by one out of the vase, starting with the pink, then going to the lavender, then the orange. "Who is the one that you usually smile first for in the morning?" She asked handing Tohru the pink rose. Then she asked, "Who looks at you, and then gives you one of his rare, genuine smiles?" She handed Tohru the lavender rose. Then smelling the last rose in her hand, she asked, "Who knows you, the true you, the best, and still accepts you for who you are?" The woman gave Tohru the last rose she was holding, the orange one. Tohru accepted the rose, and she also gave it a quick smell.

To her surprise it smelled the same as it did when she first bought it at the flower shop. It was as if the pond water had no affect on the sweet fragrance. Surprised, she smelled the others to see if it was for all of them. To her genuine surprise, it was true. All three roses smelled fresh and sweetly.

The old woman smiled at Tohru as she looked at the rose in awe, the she said, "You should be leaving now. You've over stayed. They are probably anxious for your return."

Tohru looked outside, and to her surprise, the sun was completely gone. It was dark outside. "Oh no!" she cried in horror. "They're probably extremely worried."

"Yes, they probably are, so you should take your leave now," said the old woman gesturing towards the door. "And don't forget my advise, and whenever you need help or just to chat, don't be afraid to come around."

"Oh, I will," said Tohru. "Thank you very much for your help." She bowed, and in minutes she was gone, and heading back to Shigure's house. She now knew the answer that she was looking for.

Whispering the new fact to herself, Tohru said, "The one I love the most is-"

------

"Yuki-kun!" Tohru called as the silver haired rat crashed down the stairs, still practically asleep. "Can I speak with you?"

"Sure Honda-san," he mumbled, trying to rub the sleepiness he felt out of his eyes."What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, you see," mumbled Tohru, embarassed. "Well it's that..."

"Yes?" he asked. "What are you trying to ask, Honda-san?"

Tohru tried to ask again, but yet again the words she tried to speak ended up garbled. Frustrated, Tohru finally managed to say, "Could we speak in a more private place?"

"Sure," said Yuki grabbing Tohru's hand. "We can go to the garden. That should be private enough."

"Yes," argreed Tohru, and together they walked out to Yuki's secret garden in the middle of the woods.

As they entered the garden, Tohru took a deep breath. She let in the fresh air of the woods enter, and then she exhaled. Sighing, she said, "I forgot how beautiful and peaceful this place is."

Yuki nodded in agreement, then looked for a rock to sit upon. "So," he asked as he looked. "What did you want to tell me Honda-san?"

Tohru who was now sitting on the ground, not minding the mud, blushed, and she said in one breath, "I've decided that I like Yuki-kun the most."

"Huh?" asked Yuki perplexed as he sat down. "Would you mind saying that again?"

Tohru went to a deeper red, and repeated, slower this time. "I've decided that I like Yuki-kun the most."

"Oh?" asked Yuki. "Was that it?"

"Yes," said Tohru. She then suddenly stood up. "I'm so sorry Yuki-kun. If I knew that you didn't feel the same way, I wouldn't of told you. Oh, I'm so sorry."

She was going to continue rambling, but Yuki stood up from his walk, and walked towards Tohru. Grabbing her hands with his own, he whispered, "Don't worry Honda-san, I like you the most, too."

Tohru had been trying to release herself from his grasp, but once he said those few words, stopped struggling. "Really?" she asked looking at the ground. Then she looked into Yuki's eyes, and smiled happilly. "I'm really glad Yuki-kun."

Yuki smiled, "I'm glad too, Honda-san."

They smiled at each other, until Yuki decided to take a peek at his watch. When he saw that it was ten minutes until the start of school, he stated, "Honda-san, we better get going. School begins in a few minutes."

"What?" cried Tohru. "What time is it?"

When Yuki informed her of the time, Tohru said, "We better go then."

"Yes, we should." He grabbed her hands, and together they raced back to Shigure's house, and quickly prepare themselves for school.

However, as Tohru and Yuki were leaving the house, Yuki asked her, "Would you like to go somewhere tomorrow. I know it's short notice, but-"

Tohru interrupted him, by saying, "Sure Yuki-kun. I would love to go somewhere with you tomorrow."

Smiling, Yuki said, "Good." Then together, Yuki and Tohru walked to school hand in hand. However, neither one of them noticed Shigure watching them, muttering some words that sounded similiar to, "It was about time our flower hooked up with someone in this house." Then, he laughed and walked straight into his office and began typing on computer in frantic haste. Also, neither one of them noticed another pair of eyes watching them from the roof. Unlike Shigure, this person seemed very unhappy about the new situation at hand.

------

Yuki and Tohru were sitting in a booth at the Italian restauraunt, both eatting a plateful of sphaghetti. However, that was all that they were doing, neither were attempting much of a conversation.

When Yuki finished his plate, he finally decided to say something. "So how's school?"

"Good. You?" replied Tohru, who now had just finished her own plate of food.

"Um," started Yuki. "How's work?"

"Good, I like working with Ame-san."

"Oh, that's nice. I'm thinking of getting a job."

"Oh, that's nice."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"..."

"You want to leave?"

"Sure, if you want to."

"Okay," said Yuki calling over the waiter. After paying the man, they left the Italian restraunt, and walked down the street. Like the last few days, outside the wind was rather frigid and rain was coming down ice cold. Yuki and Tohru rushed through the streets, going along with the crowd; however, Yuki was being careful of being accidently hugged. Neither said anything until they came to an intersection.

"So," asked Yuki. "What do you want to do? We could continue wandering around or we could go home."

"Um," said Tohru. "Let's-"

However, before Tohru could tell Yuki her idea, a voice called from across the intersection. "Yun-yun!"

Turning around, Yuki saw Manabe with Machi and Kimi. He waved gaily, and Tohru noticed this from the corner of her eye. He never acted like that around her, expecially since he became student council president. Left in her own thoughts, Tohru barely noticed that Manabe, Machi, and Kimi had crossed the intersection until Manabe started his monologue.

"Yun-yun! What a surprise to see you! What are you doing on this oh-so beautiful day where the sun is shinning, and the butterflies are singing and the bees are buzzing. Ah, what peace and paradise-" Yuki stopped the speech with a good hit on the head.

Moaning, Manabe asked, "Why do you treat me thus?"

"Because you deserve it," said Yuki glaring. Then he pleasantly said, "Hello Machi, Kimi."

"Hello Yun-yun!" said Kimi. "Kimi is very glad to see you."

"Are you now?"

"Yes!"

"And you Machi?"

Machi shrugged. "You seemed alone earlier, but now-"

"But now I'm not alone?"

"Sure, if that's how you want to describe it."

"Yun-yun?" Manabe whined.

Yuki whipped around. "What?"

"You never answered my question Yun-yun."

"What question was that?"

"The one about the pleasant weather."

"Oh," said Yuki looking around, not noticing that Tohru was slowly inching away from the scene. She hardly knew these people, yet Yuki looked so at ease. She did not want to interrupt his natural setting. Sighing, she decided that leaving them to their own escapades would be the best for everyone. So she smiled apologetically, and said softly, "Good-bye Yuki-kun. Have fun."

Yuki however did not hear her, for he had started his own soliloquy. "Why, Manabe! I'm trying to get out of the cold, frigid wind, which you should too! The wind is chilling me all the way to the bone, and I'm shivering, and obviously it can't be good for the health. Just look at yourself in the mirror because I don't think that your skin is suppose to be that shade of blue."

"What!" cried Manabe looking at himself. Yuki smiled then laughed, and soon all four of them were walking around town, and Yuki was completely forgetting about the previous events that occurred that day.

Meanwhile Tohru was walking around trying to figure out how her perfect decision had gone wrong. She had answered the question correctly, had she not? But then she remembered the last question, and whispered what she remembered to herself, "Who knows the true you?" She looked up at the sky, and the first person that came into her mind was, "Kyou-kun!"

Frantically, Tohru dashed through the streets, heading towards Shigure's house. "I must find him," she thought. "I must tell him how stupid I am, how I made a completely stupid conclusion. I just hope that he doesn't hate me now."

She ran down the street, and avoided a multiple collisions with strangers. Each time this happened, Tohru would give a hasty apology, but continued on. She had to find Kyou, and soon. Who knew what he would do because he still thought that she loved Yuki the most, even though it had never been true.

As she ran, Tohru tripped over a stone, and was falling when suddenly she was caught. However, the man who had caught her was standing far away, as if he did not want to be hugged. She looked up to thank her savior, when she noticed that it was just the man she had been searching for.

"Kyou-kun!" she cried out in happiness. "I've found you!"

"Huh?" he asked looking down at the girl in his arms. When he noticed that it was she, he set her onto her feet and asked, "Aren't you suppose to be with Yuki?"

She shrugged, and said, "It didn't work out."

"Oh?"

"We're just not right for each other."

"..."

The two stood in awkward silence until Tohru finally spoke. She looked down at her feet; she didn't want to look at Kyou's face because she just did not know how he would react.

"I'm so sorry. I made a very foolish mistake," started Tohru taking a deep breath. She blushed, then continued, "Well, at first I didn't realize that it was a mistake but now I have realized, this is the first thing that comes to mind." She found renewed bravery and looked into Kyou's eyes, and said, "I don't know him anymore."

Kyou looked at Tohru surprised. "You don't know Yuki anymore?"

Blushing Tohru said, "That's the thing, I know him. I mean it would make no sense if I didn't know him because we do live in the same house, but I don't truly know him. I know the Yuki-kun, the one who wasn't president of the student council, the Yuki who loved his garden, the Yuki rarely laughed around anyone. But now, I hardly know who he is anymore because he is happy-" Tohru looked down at the ground and shrugged.

With concern written all over his face, Kyou looked at Tohru, "You're worried that that damn rat is happy?"

"What?" asked Tohru confused. Then realizing what Kyou asked, she screeched, "No! That's not the problem." She shook her head turbulently. "I'm very happy that Yuki is happy. I want him to be nothing but happy. What I'm trying to say is that he now has his own friends, and when he looked at Kuragi Machi, it looked like he was in love-"

"Am I suppose to care about any of this?" asked Kyou who looked extremely bored with Tohru's rambling. He looked down at Tohru who, if possible, was blushing even redder than previously. Just for a moment Kyou's eyes softened as he looked at her, but suddenly he looked skyward, and mumbled, "Looks like more rain. Damn. And I thought this icy wind was bad enough."

He began to walk away from Tohru who sank onto the wet ground and she began to cry as he walked away. Heaving sobs filled the air, as Tohru mumbled, "So he doesn't care either. Guess Isuzu-san was wrong."

She watched him walk away, then was enlightened. Sitting on the ground, and the wind blowing icy gusts was a pretty stupid idea. She would go home, and perhaps another try would receive a different result. With new vigor, Tohru rushed to Shigure's house. She would find his and her rose, and show them both to him, and tell him the truth.

------

Back at the hosue, Kyou was mumbling to himself. He was angry at Tohru for telling Yuki that she loved him the most. He was angry at Yuki for going on a date with her, but mostly he was angry at himself for not being the kind of guy who could make Tohru fall for him first, then rejecting her in such a harsh manner when she had finally realized the truth.

However, he just did not know what to do either. Should he except her apology, or should he just leave her in the dust. Just forget about her completely. No, he could never do that.He was already in too deep. He loved her with all of his heart, and he could only hope that she still loved him enough to come again.

Little did he know that his wish would be fulfilled. For as he walked out of his room to go down to make a quick snack in the kitchen, Tohru stood in front of his door. She held two roses towards him. One was pink and the other was orange. The stems were intwined together.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't realize it earlier," said Tohru standing before him. Unlike before she was looking straight in his eyes. He noted that she must of been using all of her bravery just to do this task. "I suppose I knew it all along, but was to thick to notice it. I guess I went to magic for help-"

Kyou made a small movement, and Tohru though this as a bad sign. "But I didn't know it was magic until someone told me." Kyou released a small breath that he did not realize that he had been holding. "Anyways, this magic just confused me more than helping, so did the questions."

Raising an eyebrow, Tohru elaborated, "You are always the first person I smile for in the morning. I've noticed that only I've seen your true, genuine smile, and I would like to think that you have accepted all of me, as much as I would like to think that I have accepted all of you." She stuck her chin out in determination, and finished, "So I want to offer these two roses, one as my heart and the other as yours. But if you don't except, I'll understand."

She looked down at the ground, now that her courage had faded. The two intertwined roses were still offered towards him. He gingerly took the two roses from her hands, and began to untwine them. She looked up at what he was doing, and stiffled a cry.

"Alright, I understand," she said, and tried to run towards her room. However, Kyou caught her hand.

"Stay."

"Why? So you can mock me?" she cried. "No it would be better if I left." She tried to pull away, but Kyou would not let go.

"I don't want to mock you," he mumbled. "I merely want us both to intertwine the roses stems." She stopped struggling and looked at him quizically.

"Huh?"

He handed her the pink rose, then said solemnly, "I, Kyou Sohma, offer Tohru Honda my heart, which is represented by this orange rose." He handed her the rose in his hand.

After excepting the offererd rose, she followed his example. Tohru took a deep breath and said, "I, Tohru Honda, offer Kyou Sohma my heart, which is represented by this pink rose." She offered the rose to him which he excepted.

"Then together these roses shall be, as one."

"Then together these roses shall be, as one," Tohru repeated. Then together they intertwined the roses stems together, and by magic that neither could understand, the two roses melted into each other, creating one rose that was a perfect mix of orange and pink. Kyou and Tohru held the rose together, than gazed into each other's eyes.

Kyou finally spoke first, "I think I want to kiss you."

Tohru mumbled, "Then do so."

As soon as those words were spoken, Kyou took her advise, and kissed her.

------

Many years have passed by, and together they still are. Together forever, bound by magic of the hearts. And to the amazemnt of themselves, and to all who see it, the magically combined two roses, one pink the other orange, still exists, and rumor has it, the rose will always stay.

------

So how did you like it? Like I said before this is just one of my crazy little stories... anyways please review. Reviews make my day, really they do. So please? Thanks for reading and reviewing! Viv


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